Having entered the Christmas season, we ask those who find the work of the Mystagogy Resource Center beneficial to them to help us continue our work with a generous financial gift as you are able. As an incentive, we are offering the following booklet.

In 1909 the German philosopher Arthur Drews wrote a book called "The Myth of Christ", which New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman has called "arguably the most influential mythicist book ever produced," arguing that Jesus Christ never existed and was simply a myth influenced by more ancient myths. The reason this book was so influential was because Vladimir Lenin read it and was convinced that Jesus never existed, thus justifying his actions in promoting atheism and suppressing the Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union. Moreover, the ideologues of the Third Reich would go on to implement the views of Drews to create a new "Aryan religion," viewing Jesus as an Aryan figure fighting against Jewish materialism. 

Due to the tremendous influence of this book in his time, George Florovsky viewed the arguments presented therein as very weak and easily refutable, which led him to write a refutation of this text which was published in Russian by the YMCA Press in Paris in 1929. This apologetic brochure titled "Did Christ Live? Historical Evidence of Christ" was one of the first texts of his published to promote his Neopatristic Synthesis, bringing the patristic heritage to modern historical and cultural conditions. With the revival of these views among some in our time, this text is as relevant today as it was when it was written. 

Never before published in English, it is now available for anyone who donates at least $20 to the Mystagogy Resource Center upon request (please specify in your donation that you want the book). Thank you.



December 1, 2025

Saint Philaret the Merciful Resource Page

Saint Anastasia Şaguna, Mother of the Holy Hierarch Andrei Şaguna (+ 1836)

 

Anastasia Şaguna (1785–1836) was the mother of the Holy Hierarch Andrei Şaguna, one of the most illustrious figures of Romanian Orthodoxy.

Born in 1785, she received a select education from her parents, in the spirit of fear of God, honor and steadfastness in the ancestral faith.

She married young, and at the age of 18 she became a mother, giving birth to Evreta, the brother of the later Metropolitan, followed by a little girl, Ecaterina, in 1806 and the infant Anastasios (the future Metropolitan Andrei Şaguna) on December 20, 1808, in Miscolts.

Anastasia's life took a dramatic turn when her husband, Naum Şaguna, for material reasons and forced by circumstances, converted to Catholicism. This choice generated an intense internal and external struggle for Anastasia, who decided to defend her faith and, above all, the souls of her children with all her might. Convinced that the holiest religion was the one in which her parents and ancestors worshipped, Anastasia chose to fight for her little ones to remain Orthodox.

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Saint Philaret the Merciful in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church


By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The verse of the synaxarion of Saint Philaret gives the mark of his life according to Christ, taking as its basis his name and his epithet: philaret and merciful. “You who were adorned with every virtue have died, truly full of compassion you loved father." Indeed, the hymns of our Church, as is evident from his Apolytikion, consider that what constitutes the absolute jewel of Philaret, is his compassion towards his fellow men, and especially those in need. “You have adorned your life with compassion.” And this means that Philaret became par excellence a lover of God, since there is no greater virtue in which God rests than that which constitutes His own existence. “For God is love.” And it is worth remembering that any virtue, or even the whole of virtues, if it does not end in love and does not presuppose it, has no particular significance. Sometimes, in fact, it can even work negatively for its possessor, by creating in him boasting and pride, which leads him into direct opposition to his Creator. “The Lord opposes the proud.”

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December: Day 1: Teaching 2: Holy Righteous Philaret the Merciful


December: Day 1: Teaching 2:
Holy Righteous Philaret the Merciful
 
(Lessons of Philanthropy from the Life of Saint Philaret the Merciful)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Philaret the Merciful, whose memory is celebrated today, belonged to a wealthy and noble family. His parents instilled in him a love of God from an early age, and he lived in a contentment and happiness rarely enjoyed by people. But Philaret remembered his duties. "God did not give me wealth," he told his wife Theosevo, "for me to enjoy it alone, but for me to share it with the poor." And indeed, Philaret shared his last with the poor not only when he was rich, but even when he became poor. By helping the poor, Philaret himself reached such poverty that he needed daily food for himself and his family. Sometimes, neighbors, out of pity, sent him bread or flour, but even then Philaret shared his share with the poor. "Accept it, and thank God," he said, often giving his last to the beggar and refusing any gratitude to himself. God was pleased to once again bestow wealth upon the kind and meek Philaret. His granddaughter became the wife of the emperor himself; Philaret was honored and given rich estates. But Philaret remained as merciful, meek, and humble as ever, rejoicing in the opportunity to further help the poor.

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Prologue in Sermons: December 1


From the Life of Philaret the Merciful

December 1

(Seven Lessons From His Life)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Not to mention that the full biographies of the Saints are rich treasures from which we can draw everything necessary for life and piety, it should be noted that brief accounts of their lives are also very useful for us and offer us many salutary lessons. To convince you of this latter point, here, brethren, is a brief account of the life of Saint Philaret the Merciful, presented below as it appears in the Prologue, in Slavonic.

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